Bloomberg's Future

I think the on-again, off-again Bloomberg for President talk has been silly, but Michael Bloomberg's been an excellent Mayor for New York so I wouldn't at all mind seeing him take a crack at running for governor. But in other respects, what I'd most like to see as Bloomberg's legacy is more of his excellent work on urban policy and transportation issues rather than ginning up doomed plans for the economic revitalization of upstate New York.

That means first and foremost doing what he can to sustain his legacy within the city. It'd be a shame to see his successor repudiate his strong pro-transit record, and I hope he'll focus on doing the best he can to ensure that whoever follows him in office will follow his lead on these policies. I'd also be thrilled to see his Transportation Commissioner, Janette Sadik-Kahn go federal as Barack Obama's Secretary of Transportation (let the buzz begin!). Beyond that, as I've said before when you consider the extent to which Bloomberg's financial assets have been an important political asset for him, I'm not sure that deploying them on self-financied election campaigns is the best way to move forward with change. He could probably accomplish more as an accomplished ex-mayor, donor, and advocate for spreading the kinds of policies he pioneered in NYC to elsewhere in the country.